Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of Canada, as we all know said famously in a recent CBC-TV interview that the Occupy Movement is “entirely constructive.” He said: “I understand the frustration of many people, particularly in the United States. . . . This is a democratic expression of views. It is a physical, vocal manifestation of . . . cold figures.”

The news media got his words right; they know how to turn on voice-recorders. Yet they do appear to have run down fluffy paths in interpreting the significance of what he said.

His words were reported to have “raised eyebrows.” Whose eyebrows? We are left to presume it is the eyebrows of important persons who to date have not been identified, sitting behind teak doors and sucking their teeth in disapproval. His words “carry extra weight,” intoned The Globe and Mail, because the Stephen Harper government is pushing for him to become the next chair of the G20’s Financial Stability Board, the agency charged with coordinating the overhaul of international banking regulations. But extra weight for, or with, what? Or whom? Again, not spelled out but the implication is weight in important circles. Continue reading →